A conversation with 89-year-old Pat Boone is more than just a trip down memory lane.
The energetic singer and actor, who has celebrated his 70th anniversary in the entertainment industry, remains extremely busy. he has a new album, country jubilee25 songs, including some quirky songs. grits. He has published a new book centered on faith. ifprompting readers to consider their eternal destiny.
He will play Thomas Jefferson in the next movie. The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic.And Boone’s character is portrayed in a new movie reagan‘, starring Dennis Quade as the former president, is scheduled for release in August.
Still, if you want to take a trip down memory lane, Boone has plenty of stories to tell.
For example, I once headlined a concert that was opened by a young singer named Elvis Presley. they became friends.
“We were two boys from Tennessee. I was from Nashville and he was from Memphis,” Boone told Crosswalk Headlines.
A few years later, Boone became friends with an upstart California politician named Ronald Reagan. Their children attended the same school. On election night in 1980, when Reagan won the presidency in a landslide, Boone called him. The Gipper answered.
“I said, ‘Can I call you president first?’
Mr. Boone visited the White House during President Reagan’s term.
Boone led Bible studies for Hollywood stars in his home at the height of the Jesus movement in the ’70s.
“We’ve had multiple people baptized in our pool,” he says. (Mr. Boone’s wife, Shirley, told him that more than 300 people had been baptized.)
Boone sold more than 45 million records and was the so-called teen idol of the 1950s and 1960s, ranking second only to Elvis in album sales for several years. Her Boone even had her own ABC TV show. Pat Boone Chevrolet Showroom.
But while other music stars have fallen into temptation, Boone has remained true to his Christian faith, even if not dying from a drug overdose. Raised in the church, Boone had his wife and children and was on his way to stardom. His public image made him one of those church-going rock stars.
“I’ve been so blessed. … This platform was miraculously given to me for a reason,” Boone told Christian Headlines. “I felt it. I knew that God had given me a platform to express my faith, my life, my lifestyle without needing any explanation.”
He recorded an album of hymns. hymns we love, late 1950s. It sold over 1 million copies.
“I thought kids would buy anything that me or Elvis recorded,” he said. “…I knew I was impacting millions of children. It was about making sure that impact was as good as I could with God’s help.” ” he said.
Elvis opened for Boone at a Cleveland show in 1955.
“He wasn’t nationally known yet. I only knew him from the jukebox in Dallas,” Boone said.
Boone introduced himself to Presley before a concert in Cleveland, but Presley said little, Boone recalled.
“Later, when we were sharing a house in Bel Air and working on a movie at 20th Century Fox, I asked him about it,” Boone said. “I said, ‘Elvis, you were so shy the first night we met in Cleveland.’ [and] Nervous. ‘He said, ‘Well, I didn’t know how to talk to you.’ ‘What do you mean? ‘He said, ‘You were a star.’ ”
Boone said Presley was “spiritually hungry” in public and missed the church experiences he enjoyed as a child.
“After the show, he said, ‘I wish I could go to church like you.’ And he meant it. And I said, ‘You can do that. , why don’t you do it?” [Elvis replied,] “Oh, no – if I go to church, the kids will be screaming for autographs and it will distract me from the sermon and the sermon.”
Despite this, Boone encouraged Presley to go to church. Presley once expressed a desire to meet evangelist Oral Roberts. Mr. Boone helped make the arrangements.
“He wanted a wife and kids and a family and a church. His record, his whole career, took him away from some of the things he wanted most,” Boone said. Ta.
Boone believes that Elvis died believing in Christ. After Presley’s death, Boone found a copy of his album, he said. Pat Boone reads the Biblethere was a pile of what appeared to be Presley’s favorite records from Graceland.
“Later in his career, he was singing,” Boone said. how wonderful you are, And he sang it in a way we didn’t know he could sing. ”
Mr. Boone will turn 90 years old on June 1st. He is already planning a celebration that will include his four daughters, 16 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
“I’m blessed,” he said.
Image credits: Grits Music Video PR Photo
Michael Faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His story was published in Baptist Press. Christianity Today, Christian Poecent, of leaf chronicle, of toronto star and of knoxville news sentinel.
